Akiba Week Story
by Pikatwig
Summary: In honor of the week celebrating my favorite Persona 5 ship, this is a story that'll cover every theme prompt given during the week. Akira Kurusu and Futaba Sakura in various circumstances that focus on their relationship. I hope that you enjoy.
1. The Promise to Return

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a very special week. For those of you who don't know, in the Persona fandom, there are various weeks and days where we celebrate something specific. This week, from the 16th to the 22nd, is Shutaba Week. Or, as I'm calling it, Akiba Week. This is for the couple of Persona 5's main protagonist and Futaba Sakura. While this is mainly a thing that is done by fan artists rather than fan writers… I really enjoy Akira and Futaba as a couple and I haven't really written much for them. Let's change that.

So, as you can tell by this story's name, I'm going to be writing a chapter per theme. I ended up writing these in advance since I would end up being a bit busy with classes, so… yeah. I'll admit that I'm a little worried about my ability to finish these in time, but one of my older stories eventually got so far along that I was capable of updating at least once a day for a while and, heck, three of the epilogue chapters were all written and posted on the exact same day. ...don't go tracking that story down, it's pretty bad. ...I had a point in this, right? *thinks* Oh yeah. I'll admit I'm worried, but given some of my skills back in the day… we'll see where this goes.

As for continuity… each chapter will have its continuity be kind of dependent on a couple different things. Some will end up ignoring Scramble, some will end up using Scramble for a bit of info, others will just be whatever happens. So, for sake of this one, it'll be that Scramble and Dancing Star Night/Dancing in Starlight are ignored. I'll be sure to give you all an idea of the continuity for these stories. As for whether or not these'll be connected… again, it depends. The chapters will have dates listed so that you'll have a general gist when these are all happening. And, for sake of simplicity, I'll be using the fan theory about the game's year.

Anyway, today's theme is "Promise". I have a very simple idea for this one. Well… without further ado, let's go ahead and begin.

Disclaimers: Persona belongs to Atlus, Sega, and its other owners. I don't own the characters in this story.

* * *

_Sunday. March 19th, 2017_

"Even if you're not here, I'll make sure I do my best…" Futaba told Akira before she looked down sadly, "So... you go do your best too, Akira!"

Futaba then moved her glasses and rubbed away some tears that were starting to drip down before she looked back to Akira, "Thank you… for everything…"

Akira could only look at her with a saddened look, "...this was the goodbye that I knew was going to be the hardest…"

"Do you two need a minute alone?" Sojiro offered.

"Yeah…"

Sojiro simply nodded in response before he gave a look over to Morgana, "Come on, you."

After a moment, Morgana simply complied with Sojiro's request and followed him outside Leblanc. Akira then walked over and pulled Futaba into a hug as tears began to drip down from his eyes.

"Hey… don't you cry too…" Futaba told him.

"Sorry… just…" Akira began to apologize before Futaba wiped the tears off of his face, "I'll miss you."

"I know…" Futaba whispered.

The two looked at each-other's eyes for a few minutes without saying anything. Akira eventually gave Futaba a kiss to the forehead, making her giggle, and soon return the kiss, but to his cheek instead of his forehead.

"It'll be hard to wake up every day and know you're not here, but I'll try my best…" Futaba told him.

"Same here," Akira stated before he gained a calm expression, "But… let's not make our last memories of each-other sad ones. Let's try to cheer up."

The orange-haired girl quickly nodded her head in response, then she pulled Akira into a hug, "I'll miss you… but I can wait. After all, you were in juvie for two months and I waited then…"

Akira could only nod his head in response before he returned the hug. Not long after that, he then leaned down and kissed Futaba right on the lips. The couple melted into the passion of the kiss for a while, only splitting away out of the need to breathe. Both of them simply smiled at each-other for a little while, then Futaba walked towards a booth.

"I won't keep you from packing up any longer," she informed, "I'll see you later, ok?"

Akira simply nodded a bit. Futaba then approached the door to head out, but then stopped when she was about to grasp the door's handle.

"I love you and I'll miss you," Futaba told him.

Akira was quiet for a moment to think of something to say in response. He eventually gained a smile, then spoke, "Hey, Futaba?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember this. No matter how far apart we are, our hearts are always connected," Akira told her in a comforting tone.

Futaba simply stared for a moment before she couldn't help but let out a small snicker, "_Key to Hearts_, really?"

"Ann insisted that I play it with her when she found out I never had before," Akira explained.

"Fair enough…" Futaba responded. She then proceeded to head out of Leblanc.

Akira let out an exhale before he headed up to his room in order to get packing, Morgana eventually slipped back inside and scampered up to Akira's room in order to help him out, while Futaba simply looked down to her phone with a small smirk...

* * *

_Friday. March 24th, 2017_

"Well… it may have taken a few days longer than you were expecting, but we've finally made it to your hometown, Akira-kun," Makoto informed as she pulled the car to a stop by the train station.

"Sojiro did say you were from the country, but this town looks a bit… boring…" Ryuji remarked.

"Inaba may not look like much, but it's my home," Akira responded as he climbed out, "Hopefully my parents won't be too angry about the fact I'm three days later than they were expecting…"

"Well… it's been a great time, guys. Keep an eye out on Tokyo for us, ok?" Morgana requested.

"We'll do our best," Haru smiled.

Akira smiled at his friends and was about to walk away, but was stopped when he heard somebody else exit the car. He quickly turned around to see it was Futaba.

"Akira… I want you to do one last thing…" Futaba quickly told him.

"Sure. What's up?"

"Promise me that you'll return at some point…"

"I will."

Futaba then reached out her hand with her pinkie extended. Akira could only smile at his girlfriend before he did the same.

"Don't forget…"

"I won't forget," Akira told her with a smile, then he quickly gave her a kiss, "See you."

"See you," Futaba told him before she climbed back into the car.

"Keep an eye on her for me, ok?" Akira asked of Ann and Ryuji.

"You can count on us!" Ryuji shouted.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Futaba quickly shouted in response.

Akira simply nodded a bit, then he began to walk away from the station. He could hear the car start up and begin to move away.

"AKIRA~!"

He quickly turned to see that Futaba had opened up the sun roof and was waving goodbye to him.

"DON'T FORGET YOUR PROMISE!"

"I WON'T!" Akira shouted as loud as he could.

Futaba smiled a bit before she climbed back into the car. She rubbed away a few tears that were beginning to form as the car moved further and further away from the station.

"Are you ok?" Haru asked.

"I'll be fine. Just… going to take a bit of getting used to…" Futaba told her.

* * *

_Monday. March 27th, 2017_

"Hey, Akira!" Futaba happily greeted as she climbed up to the attic, only to be reminded that the occupant she was expecting wasn't there, "...right."

She softly exhaled before she climbed down the stairs to see Sojiro was at the counter, working, and she sat down across from him.

"Sorry… force of habit," Futaba quickly apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Sojiro assured her, "I've had my fair share of moments where I've forgotten he's not here as well."

"Well… you're old, I'm not," Futaba stated bluntly.

All Sojiro could really do was sigh in response to Futaba's blunt statement.

"Right… sorry. Working on the tact thing…" Futaba added.

"As long as you get it in line before you start going to Shujin…"

Futaba simply nodded her head before her phone buzzed. She took it out to see a text from Akira, causing her to beam with joy, and quickly opened up his message.

_[Akira: Heya. How are you?]_

The orange-haired girl quickly typed out a response.

_[Futaba: Gud. U?]_

_[Akira: Yeah, I'm 'gud' as you put it.]_

Futaba couldn't help but giggle a little at his response.

_[Akira: My folks and Morgana both say 'hi' to you and the others.]_

_[...]_

_[Akira: Hey, when are you starting to go to Shujin again?]_

"Um… Sojiro, when's my first day?" Futaba quickly asked.

"April 5th," he told her.

_[Futaba: April 5th. Why ask?]_

_[Akira: Just curious.]_

_[Futaba: Are you back in classes ATM?]_

_[...]_

_[Akira: Working on it. Some staff at my school are still a little wary. ...is what it is, I guess.]_

_[Futaba: Don't put up with that!]_

_[Akira: Plus, the school itself is having some issues. Not totally sure what's going on…]_

_[Futaba: Oh. Well… uh…]_

_[...]_

_[Akira: Gotta text you more later. Got something going on at home. Love ya. :) ]_

Futaba only stared at the text message for a bit before she sent Akira a little heart emoji. She then tucked her phone away and had a lovesick smile on her face. She then headed out of Leblanc with a skip in her step.

Sojiro couldn't help but smile as he watched her leave, then he looked up to the sky, "If only you could see how happy he makes her…"

* * *

_Wednesday. April 5th, 2017_

Futaba let out an annoyed groan when she heard her alarm clock go off. She got up out of bed and managed to make her alarm stop.

"Well… here we go, first day of high school…" Futaba muttered to herself. She put her glasses on, took a moment to readjust her eyes to the lack of light, and then noticed there was a sticky note attached to her glasses. Futaba took the sticky note off and saw all it said was 'Come to the cafe. There's a surprise waiting for you.'

* * *

Futaba, now wearing her green jacket over her pajamas, walked over to the cafe. The sun had yet to fully rise into the sky, but it was clear that daylight was approaching. Futaba eventually arrived at the door, saw that it was unlocked, and proceeded to enter. Leblanc was still mostly powered off, yet the faint smell of curry was in the air.

"Sojiro, what's going on?" Futaba asked as she walked over to the counter. She looked over to see who was cooking and then gasped very loudly when she saw who it was.

"Hey," Akira greeted her.

All Futaba could do at that moment was stand at stare at her boyfriend with a shocked expression, _'He's… he's… he's here? But… how? Why? Wait… am… am I dreaming?'_

Futaba then gave herself a pinch to the cheek before she looked around to see nothing was different. Her eyes then went right back to Akira, "...you… you're really here?"

"Yeah," Akira nodded as he set down some curry for them to eat. He then looked to see her stunned, silent, expression and couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, "This reminds me of when we got together… you were so quiet when I said I wanted to date you."

Finally, Futaba ran forward and pulled Akira into a hug. Akira managed to stop them from falling over before he returned the hug to his orange-haired girlfriend.

"I kept my promise," he told her.

"I know… I know…" she whispered to him.

* * *

The two finished eating not too longer after they finished hugging. Akira took the time to wash the dishes as Futaba simply stared at him with a smile on her face.

"What are you even doing here?" Futaba asked.

"Remember how I said that my school was having issues? Well… for some reason, the school needed to be fumigated…" Akira informed, "So we have a few weeks off while it's getting cleaned up. I was planning to visit when Golden Week happened, but this means I get to see you guys a bit sooner."

"What luck…" Futaba smiled.

"Now then… I have my own question," Akira informed.

"Fire away."

"...did you forget you have class today? Cause you're still in your pajamas…"

Futaba quickly recalled that fact, began to blush, and then gave him a 'one moment' gesture before she ran out of the cafe to get dressed.

* * *

Not long later, Futaba returned in her uniform. The uniform looked to be rather standard issue, but she notably still had her green jacket and her headphones on.

"You look great," Akira smiled.

"Thanks," Futaba blushed.

The two then heard somebody scamper down the stairs and looked to see it was Morgana. He looked over at Futaba in her uniform and smiled, "You look pretty cool."

"Thank you as well, Mona," Futaba told him.

"Mor-ga-na!" he reminded. The cat then looked up to the clock, "You got about another two hours before classes. You know how to get there?"

She was about to speak, but then realized that she didn't.

"I can take you," Akira told her.

"Really? You will?!" Futaba gawked.

"Of course. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't help my girlfriend when she needed it?"

"You're the best, Akira!" Futaba beamed, "Alright! Operation: Get to School is now underway!"

Akira couldn't help but chuckle a little as he got out his jacket, then turned to Morgana, "Keep an eye on the shop until Sojiro gets back, ok?"

"Leave it to moi!" Morgana smiled.

* * *

One rather lengthy train ride later, the couple arrived just outside of Shujin Academy. Futaba nervously twirled a lock of her hair, but she calmed down as she felt Akira put a hand on her shoulder.

"...Akira?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me that you'll be here when class ends. Just for today…" Futaba requested of him.

"Got it," Akira nodded. He then looked to see Ryuji and Ann not too far away from the entrance, the duo clearly looking for Futaba, making the frizzy-haired boy smile, "I'll see you later."

"Bye," Futaba responded. She then calmly inhaled and exhaled before she walked over to where Ryuji and Ann were…

* * *

Classes eventually ended for the day, a bell chime further signaling it, and Futaba walked out. She walked out without stopping to talk to anybody, making sure to ignore some of the whispers of the other students, before she finally reached the school's exit.

"I hope he's there…" Futaba whispered. She then headed out of the exit without saying another word and kept her eyes close to silently continue to hope.

"Hey~!"

Her eyes quickly opened up upon hearing the voice, to which she then saw a smiling and waving Akira right there. Futaba then quickly ran over and hugged her boyfriend once more.

"I kept my promise again," Akira told her.

"I love you…" Futaba whispered.

"I love you too…"

* * *

And, with that, we have reached the end of the first chapter. I'll admit that a few things did change while working on it… and most of them are related to the dates. The common fan theory is that Persona 5 takes place in 2016 and early 2017 during the ending. I decided to just run with it for ease of simplicity. Originally, Akira was going to arrive back in Inaba a week after the last day of the game, but then I looked up the distance between Shibuya and Inaba's real life inspiration and tacked off three days from the travel time. Then, originally, Futaba was going to start school after Golden Week to explain why Akira was visiting. I forgot when Golden Week actually happens, so that plot point was scrapped.

Finally, the last date change was when Futaba started class. It was originally April 8th, but then I decided to make it April 5th for no other reason than because the game IS Persona 5 after all.

I'll admit that this was one of the easiest ideas for me to think of. Akira making a promise to come back and eventually following through on it. I'll admit that I did end up looking up the game's cutscenes for the scene where Futaba talks to Akira before it transitions to the 20th just for the sake of accuracy.

Oh, and the "Key to Hearts" thing was actually the very first line I had written for this chapter. I honestly thought of Akira saying something along those lines, realized what it sounded like, and then made up what I think a good Persona universe equivalent to Kingdom Hearts would be. ...does make me wonder what their universe's version of the Destiny Islands would be called since their universe's version of Disney is clearly "Destiny". ...and I'm getting off track.

My favorite part has to be when Akira and Futaba reunite at the very end. It's just a sweet image that I can easily picture in my mind's eye.

I hope that you all enjoyed the first chapter. Next time is the prompt that, I'll admit, I had the most difficulty coming up with content for.

Just Live More.


	2. The Heart's Passion

...it just occurred to me that this is the first multi-chapter story I've posted ever since I switched laptops. I have had this thing for a while now and, yet, it's taken me this long to get back into the groove of things. ...I really don't know what to say to that. I really don't.

Anyway… welcome to the second chapter for my Akiba week story. Yeah, I'll be doing every prompt. I forget if I said that in the previous chapter, but I can confirm that I will be trying my hand at all the prompts.

This was honestly the trickiest prompt to come up with stuff for, but I managed to come up with something. For continuity, this takes place after Scramble and Dancing Star Night/Dancing in Starlight, but is ignoring The Royal. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy it.

Disclaimers: Persona belongs to Atlus, Sega, and its other owners. I don't own the characters in this story.

* * *

_Tuesday. November 2nd, 2017_

Akira lightly tapped his pencil against his hand, checking over a list of what homework he had to get done, before he saw the whiteboard be written on.

"Do keep in mind, class, that the term paper is going to be due by the end of the month," the teacher informed everyone, "Your topic is to write about what your passion is."

"What our… passion is…" Akira muttered to himself as he wrote down the assignment.

"That sounds like it'll be easy to write," Morgana whispered.

Shortly after, the bell to signal the end of classes rang. Morgana managed to slip into Akira's bag without anybody seeing him and, not long after, Akira headed for home. Morgana eventually popped out of Akira's bag to breathe a bit.

"It's winter, but it's still warm!" Morgana whined.

"It'll eventually cool off. How bad it'll get… we'll see…" Akira stated simply.

"Ugh…" Morgana sighed.

* * *

That evening, Akira simply stared at a blank document on his laptop with a simple title of "Passion" as he tried to think of something. He eventually began to type on the document only to backspace away what he typed after a bit. This continued on for about two hours before Akira let out a frustrated yell.

"WHY IS THIS SO HARD?!" he yelled.

"Keep it down," Morgana told him.

Akira just exhaled, closed out the word document, and eventually just walked out of his room to go do something else.

"...it'll work out soon…" Morgana said hopefully.

* * *

_Friday. November 24th, 2017_

Akira bonked his head against a desk a few times, he then looked up, and saw his still blank document staring at him. He eventually closed his laptop with an annoyed sigh.

"How have you still not made any progress?" Morgana questioned.

"I don't get it either…" Akira sighed. He then walked over to the TV in his room and started up a console.

"Are you SERIOUSLY playing Arttoon now?! You have to finish this paper before the end of the month!" Morgana shouted.

"I need to get some frustration out of my system… beating some opposing Squidlings should help clear my head a bit…" Akira responded.

* * *

The frizzy-haired boy smirked as he won yet another round in Arttoon. He then selected to play another round, then smiled upon seeing that one of his teammates was 'SakuraSquid'. Shortly after he noticed that, his phone began to buzz. Akira quickly pressed a button to forward the chat to a headset so that he could play.

"_Hiya, Akira!"_ Futaba's voice rang from the other end.

"Good to hear you," Akira smiled.

"_Same to you,"_ Futaba said before giggling, _"Looks like we're on the orange team together."_

Akira snickered a little bit upon seeing their team color, "Of course you pick the color that matches your hair!"

"_Hey, people at school keep saying I look like a Squidling as is. I may as well embrace it,"_ Futaba stated.

* * *

"_Akira, I got my Splatstrike fully charged!"_ Futaba quickly yelled, _"Shoot! Three enemies, and they look tough! Give me cover fire!"_

"On it," Akira responded as he quickly got his character over to where Futaba's was and gave the requested cover fire, "You good?"

"_Hang on… gotta aim it…"_ Futaba informed.

Akira tensely watched before he saw the Splatstrike go sailing into the air and land with a massive ink explosion. The last few seconds on the timer then ellapsed just after the Splatstrike had finished. Both of them watched as the scores were calculated and… their team won.

"Nice!" Akira shouted.

"_The Splatstrike must've pushed us over the edge…"_ Futaba figured.

"Thanks a lot, Futaba," Akira told her.

"_I should be thanking you since you gave me that cover fire. You're always helping others…"_

"True…" Akira figured.

"_You're just so… passionate when it comes to helping others… y'know? It's just… who you are. It's something I really love about you…"_ Futaba admitted.

Akira could almost see Futaba blushing in front of him when, suddenly, the words she said echoed in his mind. He then gained a large smile.

"_Wanna go for another game?"_

"I have something to go do. I'll talk to you later," Akira told her, exiting the game lobby and powering the game off, "You just gave me the inspiration I needed. Love you, Futaba."

"_Explain some more to me later… and I love you too,"_ Futaba responded.

With that, Akira ended their chat and got back over to his computer. He quickly began to type on the word document, a large smile on his face, and a confident air to him as he the typing went at a fast pace...

* * *

_Sunday. November 26th, 2017_

"Hey, Futaba, you free?" Akira asked her via video chat.

"_If it's for you, I'm always free. What's up?"_ Futaba asked.

"I just sent you an email with a word document attached to it," Akira informed her, "I need a second set of eyes on this paper. I'm just a bit worried about it…"

"_Leave it to me,"_ Futaba smiled as she opened up the document.

Thus, Futaba began to read the document while Akira watched her do so. Futaba then noticed him watching her out of the corner of her eye.

"_Um… could you not watch me while I do this? It's a little pressure inducing…"_

"Oh, sorry, sorry," Akira quickly apologized. He then moved away from the computer screen so that Futaba could keep up the work.

* * *

About two hours had passed before Futaba sent a response email with a few notes about what to adjust. He then re-enetred the line of sight that the video chat had and Futaba simply smiled upon seeing him.

"_It's not much, but I think you could improve it in some spots,"_ Futaba informed.

"Alright. Thank you, Futaba," Akira told her.

"_So… is this what you were referring to when you said I inspired you?"_

"Yeah. I've been stuck on what exactly my passion is before you helped it click," Akira informed, "Helping people has always been my passion. I'm not exactly sure what sort of a career I can make out of it, but I do hope that I can keep helping others."

"_It probably won't be a police officer given… y'know…"_ Futaba stated bluntly.

"True. Maybe a therapist? I'm still working things out…" Akira admitted, leaning back into his seat, "I could also be a writer. I've always been good at writing…"

Futaba simply gave him a relaxed smile, _"Whatever it is you decide to do, I'll support you all the way."_

"Thanks," Akira smiled, "...hey, Futaba?"

"_Yeah?"_

"What else are you passionate about besides tech?"

A faint blush colored Futaba's face, she twirled a lock of her hair, and then she eventually spoke, _"...well… um… I have a second passion that I've had for several years now. I think I've had it… several years now."_

"What is it?" Akira gently told her.

"_...dancing."_

Akira gained a bit of a surprised look on his face in response to this statement. Futaba then stood up, took off her headset, closed her eyes, took a calming breath, and then began to skillfully dance. A blush formed on Akira's face as he watched her sway around and dance with a very heavy amount of skill and care. Futaba eventually stopped, took a bow, and got her headset back on.

"_I got a bit of a love it when I was younger… but the style that I fell head-over-heels for right away was belly dancing. It sort of sparked my interest in Egypt and, well, you know how much I knew about that part of the world…"_ Futaba stated.

"Right…" Akira nodded.

"_I decided to join a dance club at school and a lot of people think I have a bit of a gift for it. I suppose that, if computers and hacking eventually fall through, I have a good back-up plan in place…"_ Futaba shrugged.

"Well, like you said earlier, I'll support you all the way."

Futaba faintly blushed, then giggled a bit.

"Speaking of dancing… I once had this odd dream about you and I dancing together in what looked to be Leblanc and… I think where we fought the Holy Grail…" Akira stated.

"_That sounds… oddly familiar…"_ Futaba admitted.

The two were both silent as they thought about the event mentioned, yet they couldn't clearly recall any of it. Eventually, their conversation devolved into various topics and Futaba rambled a bit about belly dancing. Akira couldn't fully retain what it was she talked about, but he kept an attentive and happy look on his face as he just listened to her talk.

* * *

_Tuesday. December 12th, 2017_

"Hey, Kurusu-kun?" one teacher asked.

"Yeah?"

"May I speak with you for just a minute? I won't take up too much of your time, but I would like to talk to you for a bit," the teacher told him.

Akira gave a nod in response. The two walked into the classroom and sat near the desk.

"This is about your paper…" the teacher began, handing it over to him, "I'm sorry that it took me a little while longer to get it back to you."

"It's fine," Akira assured the teacher. He then looked over it to see he got a perfect score, "...wow…"

"You truly spoke with passion and heart in this paper," the teacher informed, "You clearly have a path set in mind. I'm honestly a little surprised you're so willing to keep helping others given where… you know… it lead you last year…"

"It's just… what I want to do," Akira stated simply.

"Well… I have three things to say to you. First of all, great job. Second off… here," the teacher told him, handing him a flyer for a writing contest, "You have a real knack for writing. If you decide to keep that up, then this is a good program that gets writers going."

"Thank you," Akira responded, slipping the flyer into his bag, "And the third thing?"

"I wish you and Sakura-san the best. Given how much you talked about her… you two clearly have a long and happy future together."

Akira simply smiled before he headed off for home. He got out his phone, snapped a picture of his paper, and sent it to Futaba. He then added on a text saying "thanks for your help" to her as well.

* * *

This was honestly the trickiest prompt to write something for. Everything else kind of came to me naturally and, while I've had some ideas change, I have had ideas in mind for them. This one? It took a bit. I am happy with how it turned out, but it was a bit tricky. ...not helping matters was some illness deciding to rear its ugly head today, but that's not really important. I have been doing better and I did promise to get a chapter out per prompt.

I kind of think the idea of Akira having writer's block came from my own difficulty writing this prompt. Not totally sure. Though, I'll admit, I do honestly think that whatever position he ends up in when he's an adult will still be helping people because of how much he helped others. Just my take. Futaba's back-up idea of being a dancer… yeah, there was a loose inspiration from the dancing games, but I just think her being a belly dancer specifically kind of fits her Palace's motif. Just my take there.

And, yes, the game they're playing is supposed to be a Splatoon parody. I mean, come on, everybody I've shown Futaba to thinks she looks like an Inkling. It was a pretty easy idea. ...albeit, originally, they were supposed to be playing Smash Ultimate, but I scrapped it because I realized it didn't line up with the timeline I had in mind. I had the joke about Futaba looking like an Inkling planned for a while, so I just changed it to a Splatoon parody. Also, the "Squidling" term actually came from the playthrough that YouTuber "The Bittersweet Gamers" did of Persona 5 where one of the people commentating said "Squidling" instead of "Inkling". Just a little nod to that.

If I had to name a favorite part… gotta be when Akira and Futaba are playing their Splatoon parody together. Just a cute scene in my mind.

Well, I hope that you all enjoyed this one. While it was tricky to write… I'm happy with how it came out. Next time is the prompt I had the most amount of ideas for… future.

Just Live More.


	3. Our Future

Happy third day of Akiba week. Today is one of the prompts that I have honestly had the most amount of ideas for… the future. There are so many ideas that I thought up for this prompt and, well, I hope that you'll enjoy it. Continuity for this is that all of it will be after Scramble. Sophia will be making an appearance in this chapter as a cat in a similar manner to Morgana. While plot elements and boss battle data have leaked for Scramble via the demo, we don't know what Sophia's ultimate fate is going to be. For the sake of this, she'll still be around, but be in a cat form.

Also, there will be some appearances by characters from other Persona games, and a few other head-canon elements. Just letting you know that.

Now then… I'll admit that there's just so much to talk about that we gotta get going now.

Disclaimers: Persona belongs to Atlus, Sega, and its other owners. I don't own the characters in this story.

* * *

_Sunday. December 24th, 2017_

Akira simply held his present for Futaba in his hands, waiting for her to enter, as Morgana simply slept not far away from where he was. Akira let out a nervous exhale, his eyes at the present, before the door to his room opened up. Futaba, currently in some pajamas with various Tetris pieces across them, walked over to his side with a present in tow.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Futaba," Akira smiled.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Akira-kun…" Futaba told him. She cuddled up closely to him, "Promise you'll still be here when I wake up tomorrow?"

"I promise."

"Well… he kind of can't go anywhere, since this is his home…" a white and red cat with teal eyes informed.

"You're not wrong, Sophia," Futaba responded.

The cat, Sophia, simply nodded her head. She then trotted over to sleep next to Morgana with a relaxed little smile on her face.

"Well… you ready for the gift exchange?" Akira asked.

"Ready when you are," Futaba told him.

The duo exchanged their respective gifts. Akira opened his up to reveal a plushie of Miaubby, and Futaba's gift was a plushie of Popimari.

"You got me the best starter from Pokejin Dawn and Dusk!" Futaba beamed, "I love Popimari so much!"

"Guess great minds think alike with you getting me Miaubby…" Akira remarked.

"Be honest, did Morgana pressure you into picking it because it's a cat?"

"Nah. I just liked the design."

Both simply smiled at each-other for a bit, setting their gifts aside, and then they hugged each-other. Their embrace remained for a while as exhaustion got a good hold on the duo. Akira and Futaba kept looking at each-other's eyes before they both fell asleep, embracing each-other.

* * *

The door to Akira's room soon opened up, with Akira's parents and Sojiro entering. They all saw the two sleeping side by side and they all had different reactions to this sight.

"They're so cute together…" Akira's mother whispered, carefully taking off Futaba's glasses, "There. She won't break these…"

"I'm happy that these two found each-other…" Akira's father muttered, "What about you, Sojiro?"

Sojiro simply stared at the sleeping couple, yet didn't say anything at the two. He eventually just pulled a blanket over them and left without saying a single word. Akira's parents, after a bit, followed Sojiro out of the room.

* * *

_Monday. December 25th, 2017_

Futaba slowly woke up with a relaxed smile on her face. Her vision was blurred, yet she could tell that Akira was right next to her. She then leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, causing him to wake up.

"Good morning, Akira. Merry Christmas," Futaba whispered.

"Merry Christmas, Futaba…" Akira whispered back.

* * *

_Sunday. December 31st, 2017_

Akira stood in front of the Tatsuhime Shrine, awaiting Futaba, as the last few minutes of 2017 were ticking away. He took out his phone to text her, but then he heard somebody approach.

"Sorry I took so long," Futaba apologized, "Your mom was so insistent on helping me out…"

Akira looked to see Futaba was in a green kimono with various flowers and bow designs along it, a green hairpin on the right side of her head, and her hair itself was done up in a fancy, fluffy, bun style. A blush formed on both of their faces as Futaba got closer to Akira.

"You look… amazing…" Akira gawked.

"Thank you…" Futaba responded.

Neither of them knew what to talk about, so they simply turned their attention up to the sky. The last few minutes soon ticked away and they could hear other people starting to count down.

"Happy New Year, Futaba."

"Happy New Year, Akira."

With that, the couple kissed right as the time finished ticking. They kept their lips locked as the fireworks went off to ring in the New Year, eventually splitting so that they could watch the fireworks light up the evening sky.

* * *

_Monday. June 10th, 2019_

The happy couple left the restaurant they had dinner at and were now aimlessly roaming around.

"College will be around the corner soon enough for you…" Akira remarked, "How does it feel?"

"Honestly? I don't know what to say. It's just… something that'll happen," Futaba shrugged.

"Do you have any idea where you'll be going?" Akira curiously asked.

"I don't know. Only thing I really want is…" Futaba began, then hugging Akira's arm, "To be close to you."

Akira simply smiled in response to what she said, "I'm glad to hear you say that, Futaba."

"You're welcome…" Futaba told him. She then noticed he was messing around with a phone, "Something come up?"

"Something I want to show you," Akira told her as he handed her his phone, "Read that."

Futaba nodded and looked it over, seeing it was about an apartment, "...Akira?"

"I wanted to ask… do you want to move into it together?" Akira offered, "I'd get if you don't want to, but-"

"I'd love to!"

* * *

_Monday. June 17th, 2019_

With all of the legal work finished and the apartment now furnished, it was time for the couple to move in. The other members of the Phantom Thieves all pitched in to help move their belongings into the apartment, so the two moving in was going along rather quickly.

"So… many… boxes…" Ryuji muttered as he set down another one, "Are there still more?"

"Not too many more," Akira informed after putting down a box, "We should be done before the end of the hour."

"I must ask, how much of this is Futaba's?" Yusuke curiously inquired.

"Little over half, I think?" Akira guessed.

"She has you wrapped around her little finger, dude," Ryuji stated bluntly.

"Ann has YOU wrapped around her finger," Akira retorted.

"Shaddup!"

* * *

"And that should be the last of the boxes," Ann stated when, suddenly, she sneezed.

"Are you okay?" Haru asked.

"Yeah. I guess the boys must be talking about me…" Ann guessed.

"Hey, thanks for all your help," Futaba told her former teammates, "If it was just me and Akira, it would've taken a lot longer…"

"It should be 'Akira and I'," Makoto stated.

Futaba just rolled her eyes before she walked back into Sojiro's house. Her eyes settled onto what used to be her bedroom, causing tears to start to form in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Sojrio asked her.

She rubbed away the tears before she turned to face him, "I will be. I just…"

"Don't worry about it. This will always be your room in case anything ever happens," Sojiro assured her.

"Thanks…" Futaba smiled. She then took a step into her former room with a bit of a nostalgic look, "It's still so hard to believe that I've managed to leave it after so long…"

"In hindsight, maybe I should've allowed Akira to live here. He could've helped coax you out a lot sooner…" Sojiro remarked.

"Maybe, but who knows," Futaba shrugged. She then quickly pulled him into a hug, "Thank you for everything, Sojiro. I can never truly repay you for everything…"

Sojiro simply returned the hug and comforted her. Eventually, they split, and Futaba walked over towards the car with the others. Once it pulled away, Sojiro finally began to cry. His eyes soon looked up to a photo of himself, Wakaba, and Futaba that had been taken when Futaba was very young, "...she's growing up, isn't she?"

There was some silence before Sojiro spoke again.

"I hope that she's making you proud…"

* * *

"Well… this is our home now…" Futaba muttered.

"Try and keep it cleaner than your room back at Sojiro's," Yusuke stated.

"Quiet, Inari! Or else you won't be allowed to crash in our guest room!" Futaba threatened.

Akira couldn't help but chuckle a little in response to this exchange before he walked over with cups of water and soda for everyone there, "Thank you for the help, guys. A toast to the new home."

"He** yeah!" Ryuji cheered.

"Phantom Thieves forever?" Haru suggested, raising her glass to the air.

"Phantom Thieves forever!" the group responded, clinking their glasses together.

* * *

_Friday. January 10th, 2020_

It was a calm, relaxed, winter evening as Akira arrived back at the apartment with a bit of an exhausted look. He opened up the door and called out "I'm home" as he entered.

However, there was no response. He looked around for a moment, then seeing Futaba was fast asleep on the couch. Akira walked over to her side, seeing her laptop was opened and that she had finished some report for her job, before he then got a sly smirk on his face. He carefully walked off, came back with a feather, and then began to tickle her feet. Futaba then snapped awake with a laugh.

"Good evening," Akira greeted.

"Why didn't you just tap my shoulder or something?!" Futaba demanded to know.

"I just know this always gets you up," Akira told her with a sly smile.

Futaba blushed in annoyance, swiping away the feather, but then she cooled off a little. She then gave him a kiss to the cheek, "Welcome home."

"I'll get dinner started, ok?"

"Alright."

* * *

_Wednesday. February 19th, 2020_

"Good morning, Futaba," Akira greeted.

"Morning…" Futaba responded in a somewhat exhausted tone.

"Happy birthday," Akira added.

Futaba simply smiled in response to that, Akira soon bringing over breakfast, and her smile increased as she dug into breakfast.

"And I got great news. I managed to get today off of work, so we get to do whatever you want to do today," Akira told her.

"Will the others be able to visit?" Futaba inquired.

"I'll let you know later, ok?"

Futaba simply nodded her head in response. She eventually finished her breakfast and got something out of her jacket, "Well… there is something I wanna go do today."

"Alright…" Akira nodded, motioning for her to keep talking.

"There's going to be this Dragon Adventure convention with a signing by some of the VAs from the movie that came out last year…" Futaba continued to explain.

"That sounds like fun."

"And we're gonna cosplay!" Futaba concluded.

"Oh. Didn't see that part coming, but it is your birthday…" Akira remarked.

* * *

Eventually, the two were outside in their cosplays. The two arrived at a crosswalk that would lead to where the convention was occurring, when somebody noticed them.

"Hey, Akira, Futaba!"

"Ryuji?" Akira blinked as Ryuji, alongside Ann, walked over.

"Good to see you two," Ann greeted.

"Same to you," Futaba smiled.

"Happy birthday," Ryuji stated. He then looked over the duo with a bit of a confused look on his face, "So… are you two cosplaying or…?"

"Yup. We're going to be at a convention for a while," Futaba informed, "I'm Jess from Dragon Adventure 8, and Akira here is Hachi from the same game."

"...is the character's name just 'eight'?" Ryuji inquired.

"Basically," Akira shrugged.

"Well, have fun," Ann told the two.

Akira and Futaba simply nodded in response before Ryuji and Ann headed off. Akira took a moment to adjust the bandanna atop his head, then began to admire Futaba's cosplay.

"You look amazing…" Akira stated.

"So do you," Futaba smiled.

"Though, if you don't mind my asking, why aren't we the characters from Dragon Adventure 5…?"

Futaba simply exhaled and looked at the sky before she spoke, "...my mom and I used to play that one together. I just… have difficulty thinking about that game without thinking about her."

Akira then put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down. Futaba quickly shook her head and her excitement about the convention returned.

"Let's go and have a good time, Hachi!" Futaba smiled.

Akira only smiled in response to her.

"Good Hachi impression," Futaba stated before the two headed on inside.

* * *

Evening rolled around as the couple returned to their apartment. Ryuji and Ann eventually dropped by to give presents from themselves and some of the others, but they ended up needing to head off not too long later. Thus, Akira and Futaba were left to enjoy the evening by themselves.

"So… what'd you get me, Akira?" Futaba asked with a beaming smile, "I'll enjoy whatever you give me, like always, so…"

Akira simply smiled as he handed her the present, which she quickly tore open to reveal a CD of various songs. Futaba had an awestruck smile as she saw the CD and realized who it was made by.

"You got me a limited edition first release Tsubasa Oribe CD?! This has been out of print for years!" Futaba gawked.

"That Fortuna company that sponsors her is good pals with the Kirijo Group, and the leader of that company owes me a few favors," Akira informed.

"You're amazing!" Futaba gawked, hugging Akira happily, "I love you so much!"

"Love you too," Akira told her.

"Just you wait! I'm going to do something amazing for your birthday as well!"

"Can't wait to see."

* * *

_Monday. August 31st, 2020_

Akira gave off an exhausted sigh as he entered the apartment and sat down on the couch. He then saw a text from Futaba that read 'Will be home soon. Getting something for your birthday', so he simply stayed there and waited for her return.

Futaba eventually came home about an hour later and quickly got into her room to get something ready.

"Okay, I'm ready," Futaba informed, "Come on in."

Akira complied and he gawked upon seeing her in a full-on Sailor Moon cosplay.

"Tada~!" Futaba smiled.

"Wow… I'm impressed," Akira admitted.

"If you're impressed by this, then you'll be even more impressed with the next thing," Futaba stated with a small smirk. She then headed behind a curtain that was hanging up by her closet frame, "Because don't forget something all magical girls are good at."

Akira gave a bit of a confused look before he noticed the shadow of Futaba behind the curtain switching into something else.

"They all are good at transforming," Futaba beamed as she exited, now in a belly dancer outfit, "Tada. What do you think?"

Akira's entire face turned a very bright red in response to seeing Futaba like that. The orange-haired girl simply smiled, closed the door, walked over to her phone, and put on some music that matched up with her outfit.

"Happy birthday, Akira," Futaba told him before she began to dance.

Akira's face continued to be a very bright red as Futaba danced around for him. He could only watch as her dance showed the years of skill and practice she had with this style. Futaba simply smiled as she kept up the dance for another few minutes. She came to a stop as the song on her phone did.

"So… what did you think?" she asked. Futaba then noticed that Akira's entire face was a red shade and he was simply quiet, "Wow. Just like me back when we confessed."

Akira eventually seemed to pass out from the sight before him. Futaba just giggled a bit, then she gave him a simple hug.

"Happy birthday, my beloved…"

* * *

_Thursday. July 14th, 2022_

Akira, Futaba, Sojiro, Akira's parents, and all the other Phantom Thieves walked out of the airport to greet Hawaii's atmosphere with a big smile.

"I haven't been back in so long…" Akira's father admitted.

"It's so nice to be here again," Akira's mother added.

"Hey, Akira?" Haru spoke, "Thank you for allowing us to come to your family reunion."

"Well… you guys are all kind of honorary parts of my family," Akira responded.

"And we were happy to bring you all with us," Akira's father stated. He then noticed some people waving and holding a sign that read 'Kurusu' on it, "Aloha~!"

Akira's parents went over to greet the family in a happy hurry. Akira himself, meanwhile, turned towards Futaba.

"Well… what do you think?" Akira asked.

"It's certainly pretty," Futaba admitted.

"Sure is," Akira smiled.

* * *

The sun began to set and the Kurusu family, plus the others, were having a barbecue. Akira took Futaba around to meet other parts of his family and they all seemed to like her. After a while, Futaba was just sitting in a beach chair and staring at the sky.

"...wow… this… this is different…" Futaba muttered.

"You alright?" Akira asked.

"Yeah…" Futaba told him, "Just… a little overwhelmed…"

"You want to go somewhere private?"

Futaba gave a nod. The two soon walked off to somewhere a bit more isolated where they could see the sunset.

"Your family seems great…" Futaba stated, "It's just a little strange to have family that's so… caring."

"I get it," Akira told her comfortingly. He then took a deep breath before speaking again, "Futaba… how long have we been together?"

"Six years," Futaba stated.

"Six years… well, those six years have been some of the greatest times of my life…" Akira spoke, making Futaba turn to him, "Because I've had you in them. I love you more than anything else, Futaba."

"Aww… I love you too," Futaba smiled.

"And nothing would make me happier than… to make that love eternal," Akira continued, getting down on one knee and taking out a small box.

Futaba gasped as she realized what was going on.

"Futaba Sakura… would you marry me?" Akira asked.

Tears began to form in Futaba's eyes as she looked over the ring in the box, "Akira…"

She then wiped away her tears before moving her hand forward, "Yes. Yes I will."

Akira happily placed the ring onto her and gave her a quick kiss to the lips. He then took her hand and gently guided her back into the party.

"Hey, Akira, Futaba, where were you? You missed out on some good food!" Ryuji informed.

"Did something happen?" Ann asked.

Akira, smiling a very wide smile, then walked over to his parents and spoke, "She said yes."

"Congratulations," Akira's father stated.

"I'm so happy for you two," Akira's mother added.

"Wait… what's going on?" Sojiro asked.

Futaba then showed off her new engagement ring and everybody but Akira and his parents gasped at the sight.

"I guess I'll be a part of this family a lot more often," Futaba remarked.

"Congrats!" Ann stated.

"It'll be a splendid day," Yusuke added.

"How long have you been planning this, man?!" Ryuji demanded to know.

"Wait… you guys didn't know?" Futaba asked.

"Only ones I told were my parents," Akira informed, "Didn't want to run any risks of the plan reaching you before I was ready to ask."

"Well, given somebody's reputation…" Futaba remarked.

Ryuji just sighed in response to that.

* * *

_Sunday. July 24th, 2022_

Futaba, Haru, Ann, Makoto, Hifumi, Naoto, Rise, and Yukari were all at a wedding dress shop to pick out Futaba's wedding dress. It had been going on for about three hours at that point with no success.

"Are we done yet?" Futaba inquired.

"It's for your wedding, so it needs to be perfect," Ann stated.

"Go back in and try on the next one," Rise advised.

"...and of course you bring in a famous singer and FeatherPink's actress so that I'll stay in line…" Futaba muttered before going back to try on the next dress.

"Mitsuru-senpai insisted that we show up," Yukari informed, "She wants to make sure you have a great wedding since you are the first of the Phantom Thieves to get married."

"Well, technically, there's Wolf, but would his wedding count with his wife not being a Phantom Thief?" Futaba pondered.

"Let's just say this is for fact the first wedding in our group for sake of simplicity," Makoto stated.

Futaba simply nodded her head. She eventually walked out in her dress and most of the group awed at it.

"Perfect," Ann stated.

"Well… um… there is one addition I'll need to make to it if it really is perfect," Futaba informed.

"What?"

The orange-haired girl then walked over to a bag with some of her belongings and took out what looked to be a pink-red scarf of sorts.

"What's that?" Haru inquired.

"It's a ribbon… it was my mom's…" Futaba told the girls, the room now growing a bit quiet with that. Futaba nervously ran her hands along the ribbon, "It was the only thing of my mom's will that the rest of my birth family allowed me to have. She wore it when her sister was married and she wanted to wear it when she got married. So… I'm gonna wear it with my wedding dress."

Ann and Rise then walked over to give the ribbon a look before they found a good spot to tie it up, near the neck of the dress, and smiled at their handiwork. Futaba gave it a look in the mirror and smiled at the sight.

"This dress… it's truly the one," Futaba smiled.

* * *

"Hey, Futaba, where are you?" Akira inquired into his phone, "I'm at the cake shop that Kirijo-san recommended. I've been waiting about… an hour now…"

"_I'm sorry. The wedding dress stuff took a lot longer than I thought it would. ...then again, I knew for fact Ann would be there, so it really shouldn't be a surprise…"_ Futaba explained.

Akira could almost hear Ann yell "hey!" in response to what Futaba just said. He then cleared his throat a bit, "Well… I'm going to go ahead and start talking to the baker about the order if that's okay."

"_We'll be there in about three more minutes, so go ahead and get the hedgehog rolling,"_ Futaba responded.

"Alright, see you soon," Akira told her. He then hung up and entered the cake shop. He approached the counter and saw somebody that wasn't working nearby, "Hey. Is this where I place an order?"

"Yes it is, how can I help you?" an older looking man asked.

"I'm here to place an order for a wedding cake," Akira stated.

"Oh. Is it for you?"

"Yeah. My fiancé is on her way from getting her dress," Akira explained, "We've been together about six years now and I asked her the question ten days ago."

"Alright. Well, I can get started on details for the figures that'll go on the cake. I already got a good look at you, but go ahead and tell me about your girl," the cake baker informed Akira.

"She's a bit short… reaches about up to my shoulder… has long orange hair… wears these great glasses, has brown eyes…" Akira spoke.

The details began to ring a bell in the cake baker's mind and a scowl formed on his face. Akira didn't seem to notice the baker's expression change as he continued to talk about Futaba. Eventually, the door opened up and Futaba walked over to Akira.

"Akira, I'm here," Futaba informed.

"Well, I've already started to talk to the baker here," Akira told her.

"Great," Futaba smiled as she walked up to the baker, but then paled a bit upon seeing who it was, "...um… Akira? Why'd you pick this bakery?"

Akira was about to inform her, but stopped before he could even start when he saw her expression.

"I'm going to have to ask you two to leave," the baker stated, "I don't sell cakes to murderers…"

"Wait, what?" Akira blinked.

"Take my advice here, kid. Break it off," the baker stated.

"...you're an Isshiki, aren't you?" Akira realized.

"Yeah. What's your fiancé here? Nothing but a murderer," the man stated.

"...I didn't kill mom…" Futaba spoke.

"We all heard the suicide note, you brat. Now get out before I call the police," the man angrily stated.

Futaba's breathing became a bit shaky and she gripped her head as if to block out sounds. Akira quickly realized what was going on and put himself in front of Futaba's line of sight in order to try to calm her down.

"It's okay… it's okay…" Akira whispered to her.

"DIdn't you two hear me? I said-"

"We ARE leaving!" Akira nearly shouted, "And take my advice. Stay away from our wedding."

"Take MY advice, leave that k-"

Akira took one of Futaba's hands and quickly got them both out of the bakery. Futaba slowly managed to calm down as they walked further and further away from the area.

"I'm so sorry, Futaba. I didn't know who ran the place…" Akira apologized.

"...it's okay…" Futaba told him, "...I'm going to be fine."

"I'm going to go tell Kirijo-san about this. See if she could make sure those people don't bother us when the wedding happens," Akira told her, "It may be a while. Do you have anyone to talk to while I'm not around?"

"Yeah… my cousin," Futaba informed.

"Alright. I'll see you back at the apartment," Akira smiled, giving her a quick kiss to the forehead.

* * *

Akira eventually arrived at a branch building of the Kirijo Group that he knew its boss would be at that day. He quickly headed up to one of the higher floors and was greeted by the husband of the current CEO.

"Hey, Kurusu, it's good to see you," the man greeted.

"Where's your wife? I need to speak with her," Akira informed.

"Mitsuru's in the room back there, but-"

Akira then hurried over to knock at the door, "Kirijo-san, it's Akira."

"Akihiko, Kurusu, Come in," Mitsuru responded.

Mitsuru's husband, Akihiko, then opened up the door so the two could enter.

"It's good to see you, Kurusu," Mitsuru greeted, "What do I owe this unexpected visit to?"

"New cake shop for the wedding," Akira stated bluntly as he handed her back a card.

"What? But what's wrong with this one? It made the cake for mine and Akihiko's wedding a-"

"One of Futaba's biological family members ran it and kept calling her a killer," Akira told her.

The statement cut the calm atmosphere of the room in half like a hot knife through butter. Mitsuru let out a heavy sigh in response to what Akira informed her.

"Kurusu… I have to apologize. I had no idea that somebody in your fiancé's family worked there…" Mitsuru apologized.

"I'm not blaming you for any of this. You're doing so much for the wedding, I can't really be angry at you," Akira told her.

"As I said after I got informed about this originally, think of it as my helping of an old employee's daughter," Mitsuru stated.

"I also have to ask you… how long will it be for you to file a restraining order?" Akira questioned.

"About a week, tops. Why?"

"I want to make sure that Futaba's biological family doesn't ruin our wedding. That whole family needs to stay away from it…" Akira stated, anger clearly seething below his calm expression.

"Need I remind you that one of my employees is her cousin?" Mitsuru reminded.

"Right. Futaba's never said anything bad about her, so I guess skip her," Akira figured, "Also, we met up with her biological father. He has another kid, but they're good people. So I guess they won't be given a restraining order."

"Duly noted," Mitsuru nodded.

* * *

Futaba tapped the side of her laptop as she awaited her cousin to pick up the video call. She took another breath to calm herself before the screen finally showed another room.

"_Futaba-chan? It's good to see you!"_

"Good to see you too, Fuuka," Futaba greeted, "Hope you weren't too busy…"

"_It's alright. So, how are you?"_

"Could be better… I ended up seeing my great-uncle today…" Futaba informed, "He… he kept calling me a killer."

"_The one who runs the bakery? Oh… Futaba, I'm so sorry that happened. I've tried to tell the others about what actually happened to your mom, but they refuse to listen to me…"_ Fuuka apologized.

"It's alright. I've got you, I've got the others in the Shadow Operatives, I've got the Investigation Team, I've got Sojiro, I've got the Phantom Thieves, and I got Akira. It's more than enough to make up for the family that I lost," Futaba told her, "I just… needed to cool my head off a bit more."

"_Speaking of your boyfriend, where is he?"_

"He went to go speak with your boss since she was the one who told us about the bakery."

A bit of a confused expression came onto Fuuka's face in response to what Futaba just told her, _"Okay, um… why did Mitsuru-senpai tell you two about the bakery?"_

Futaba quickly realized she had yet to inform her cousin about the joyful news, a smile quickly coming onto her face, "Oh yeah. Sorry I forgot to tell you. Um… well… I'll show you…"

Thus, Futaba showed off her engagement ring, "He proposed and I said yes."

"_Oh my. Congratulations, Futaba! I'm so happy for you two!"_

"Thanks. Uh… I'll give you a more proper invite when we solidify everything else, but we set the wedding for December 18th."

"_Alright. Um… is there any significance to that date for you two or…?"_

"It's the day that the man who gave Akira his criminal record had a change of heart," Futaba informed, "It's just such an important day in our lives that we wanted to make it another important day. Oh, and also, while we were in Hawaii when Akira proposed… our team agreed that whoever has a child first will get to name them Kaito."

"_Well, the name would work for you two. Uh, the 18th of December…"_ Fuuka stated as she checked her schedule, _"I'll be free that day, so I'll be there for sure!"_

"Thanks, Fuuka. It means the world to me that you can show…" Futaba told her.

"_Not a problem. Well, I need to get going. Talk to you soon," _Fuuka responded.

Futaba waved as the message ended. Akira then walked on into the apartment, to which Futaba walked over to hug him.

"How'd the chat with your cousin go?"

"Good. I'm happy… plus, she can make it to the wedding," Futaba smiled.

"Good to hear," Akira smiled before he returned the hug.

* * *

_Sunday. December 18th, 2022_

Futaba gave a nervous exhale as Akira's mother worked on making sure that she was ready for the walk down the aisle.

"Alright. You're good to go, Futaba," Akira's mother told her, "Aww. You look amazing. Wakaba-chan would be so proud of you right now."

"Thanks," Futaba told her, "Well… I guess after today, you'll be my mother in a sense."

"Futaba… I've been your mother since you and Akira started to date. I've always considered you a part of the family," she informed, "The wedding will just help cement that."

"Yeah…" Futaba nodded.

* * *

Akira stood in the church, adjusting the neck of his tuxedo a little, when Yu walked up to a station nearby him.

"Hey, Sen-"

"You can just call me by my name, you know," Yu told him.

"Right. Yu, uh… thank you for agreeing to help with the wedding," Akira graciously thanked, "You have no idea how relieved I am that somebody was able to show up after the previous one had to call in sick."

"It's no problem. I'm always happy to see bonds between people grow," Yu smiled as he took his position.

"...if you don't mind my asking… what's it like to be married?"

Yu's eyes then fell over to where Naoto was sitting, the two quickly waving at each-other, before he turned his attention back over to Akira, "It's a commitment, but it's well worth it. Never regret the choices that you've made with all your heart."

Akira simply nodded a bit before he heard the person at the piano begin to play. He kept a calm face as the doors to the church opened up and Futaba walked forward. The couple simply had a happy, calm, look at each-other. Flowers were dropped forward by Morgana and Sophia as Futaba continued towards the altar. The two cats were soon scooped up by Ryuji and Ann once their job spreading the flowers was finished. Futaba then arrived at the altar and gave a smile towards Akira.

"Please be seated," Yu began, with everyone taking their spots in their seats, he then looked over what he needed to say and recited it with a happy tone, "First, I'd like to begin by welcoming everyone and thanking each and every one of you for being here on this most happy of days. It's no accident that each of you are here today, and each of you were invited to be here because you represent someone important in the individual and collective lives of Akira Kurusu and Futaba Sakura. This occasion is one that I know is not only monumental for the wedded-couple-to-be, but for all of us who are lucky to know and love them as individuals; but even more so as a perfect pairing. The most remarkable moment in life is when you meet the person who makes you feel complete…"

Futaba simply gave a happy wink towards Akira at that statement, and Akira simply smiled back at her.

"The person who makes the world a beautiful and magical place. The person with whom you share a bond so special that it transcends normal relationships and becomes something so pure and so wonderful, that you can't imagine spending another day of your life without them…" Yu continued, unaware of the short exchange between the couple, "I feel privileged to be here today among all of you as a witness of their commitment to a lifetime of love for one another. I think I've had the good fortune to meet most of you here today at some point or another, but for those of you whom I haven't met, my name is Yu Shirogane. I met Akira a long time ago back when he was very young and when my last name was simply Narukami. I have been a mentor to him for about five or so years now and, I'd say, he's a really nice man."

"I think it's been longer than that…" Akira muttered.

"As for his beloved, I may not have known her as long, but I have met her numerous times. And, I must say, these two are a perfect match for each-other," Yu spoke, now gaining a larger smile as he reached the part that he enjoyed reading the most, "I wish I could tell you a single story about Akira and Futaba that summarizes their relationship and how they enrich each other's lives, and the lives of each of us, but the truth is there isn't one single event that is a good encapsulation of what they mean to me, to each other, and to all of us. But what I do know is that both of them care deeply and passionately for each other; they protect each other; they make each other laugh and think outside themselves; that time magically seems to both fly and slow down when they're together. They help each other in ways that are obvious and unnoticed, but always appreciated."

Sojiro simply nodded his head at that last remark.

"What I wish for them on their wedding day is that their lifetime together as a team is one of complete contentment; full of those moments that they wish would never end, and that they continue to make one another smile and laugh as they make each of us do. And now… without further ado..." Yu continued, then paused for a bit of a dramatic effect, "The vows. Dearly honored and beloved guests, we are gathered here today to join Akira Kurusu and Futaba Sakura in the union of marriage. This contract is not to be entered into lightly, but thoughtfully and seriously, and with a deep realization of its obligations and responsibilities. If anyone has any objections or things to say, speak now, or forever hold your piece."

The church fell silent for a few moments before Sojiro simply stood up.

"Sojiro…" somebody muttered.

"I only have one thing to say to them both. ...take care of each-other," Sojiro simply stated. He then sat right back down without another word.

Nobody else spoke or rose, so Yu continued to the next line, "The bride and groom have each prepared vows that they will read now."

Futaba cleared her throat and looked to Akira, "Akira… you are the single greatest person that I have ever met. I never thought that I would find a person that I would love with all my heart… but then you came along. You took me off my feet like how a certain portly plumber always rescues his princess in the video games. You cheer me up when I'm down like gaining a one-up in a level that would give you a game over. And you make me feel all kinds of emotions like we were in a dating simulator. Only… this is all real life. And you're real too. You stole my heart so long ago… and you'll always have it."

Akira smiled at her before he spoke, "Futaba. I didn't know what to expect when I originally had to go out to Tokyo, but finding a girlfriend was not something I was thinking would happen. ...or ever given what happened. Then… I found you. It may not have been immediate, but I realized you were the one for me. And these past six years… I don't regret a single day we've spent together… and I want to love you for the rest of my days."

Futaba giggled a bit in response before they were handed the wedding rings.

"And now… Akira Kurusu, do you take Futaba as your wife, promising to love, honor, cherish, and protect her, forsaking all others, holding only unto her forevermore, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"And Futaba Sakura, do you take Akira as your husband, promising to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, forsaking all others, holding only unto him forevermore, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do."

"Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss," Yu stated.

With that, Akira and Futaba kissed each-other and the entire room erupted into cheers. A few cheers of 'Phantom Thieves' came from around the room, but all Akira and Futaba could think about at that moment was each-other and whatever would come their way going forward…

* * *

The wedding eventually moved into a dining room with Akira and Futaba standing nearby the large cake that was simply waiting to be eaten. Various congratulations came from friends and families all around the room. After a while, the two were ready for the cake, and Futaba took a moment to speak.

"Um… hi everyone," she spoke, everyone hearing her via a microphone, "Thank you all so much for being here. It means a lot to me. And now… for our lovely cake. I would like to quickly thank Haru for helping us find a new baker to make it. Let's just say our first attempt at a bakery didn't go so well and leave it at that."

Mitsuru simply gave a nervous chuckle in response to that remark.

"And, uh… I have to say… I'm going to dedicate this first slice of the cake to someone. Um… my mother, Wakaba Isshiki, is no longer with us. But… I know she wanted me to get married someday. This ribbon here was from her for me to wear on my wedding day. So…" Futaba spoke before she was handed a knife for the cake, "This one's for you, mom. I know you would have approved of Akira…"

With that, Futaba cut into the cake and the room began to cheer for the newlywed couple.

* * *

Evening eventually arrived and the newlywed couple headed out to their car. Akira couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the hood of the car had the Phantom Thieves logo on it.

"Alright… it's time for the bouquet…" Futaba said to herself. She turned around and let the bouquet sail into the air. She couldn't help but chuckle when she heard the women clamoring over it.

"Um… Futaba…?" Akira muttered, making her turn around.

Futaba then noticed that the bouquet had landed in the hands of her half-sister. She paled upon seeing that since she knew that her sister was dating Yusuke…

"No, you can't get married next," Futaba quickly said.

"But it's tradition," her sister retorted.

"No, you can't go next."

"I'm the older sister here, Futaba. I can do what I want," she reminded.

"Let's… go," Akira advised.

Futaba simply decided to leave it at that before she got into the car and they drove off for the hotel they were going to be staying at.

* * *

The hotel room was rather quiet and had a very wonderful view. Futaba walked over to look at the registry information for the room and simply smiled upon seeing it read "Akira Kurusu and Futaba Kurusu".

"I think I can get used to this," Futaba admitted.

"Welcome to the first day of the rest of our lives, Futaba," Akira stated.

The duo simply smiled before they kissed once more. No longer just a couple, but now as husband and wife for many years to come no matter what came their way.

* * *

I must apologize that this ended up being a little late. However, with that, it's on Futaba's birthday in some parts of the world. Happy birthday Futaba. Also, in other parts, it's still technically the 18th, so… score me? Ah well.

I'll admit that the ending scene with the wedding did have some elements I ended up deciding to axe out for various reasons. Amongst them were Lavenza being the flower girl, showing a bachelor and bachelorette party for Akira and Futaba, and a scene where Futaba has her first child with Akira and his name was "Kaito Kurusu". Those ended up needing to get scrapped due to time. The scene with the cake slicing and the bouquet being thrown almost got removed, but I liked the ideas far too much to axe them out even if this meant the chapter was far later than I wanted it to be.

Now then… references. Pokejin is supposed to be Pokémon and the two plushies are supposed to be Litten and Popplio. Dragon Adventure is supposed to be Dragon Quest, with Akira and Futaba cosplaying as the Dragon Quest 8 hero and Jessica. Felt it was fitting given how the latter has orange hair like Futaba. And then Sailor Moon was left unchanged. Just cause.

Fuuka being related to Futaba and the mention of Futaba having a half-sister are both head-canons. I would be saying who her half-sister actually IS, but that's a topic for another fanfic, so that's gotta remain hush-hush. Sorry.

Well… I have to say my favorite part was the proposal and the wedding. It was just so cute.

I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one. Like this one… I had a lot of ideas for it. We'll see how posting it actually goes.

Just Live More.


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